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Council Speaker and potential Gracie Mansion hopeful Adrienne Adams called out City Hall in her annual address Tuesday — but her no-relation rival Mayor Eric Adams wasn’t even there to hear it.
The “State of the City” speech arguably served as a soft launch for a mayoral campaign, which Adrienne Adams said last week she was considering amid the mayor’s myriad troubles and the prospect of an Andrew Cuomo comeback.
“New York City is bigger than one person, and our city deserves leadership that prioritizes its people over individual glory or interests,” Adrienne Adams said from the Jazz at Lincoln Center stage, where she was introduced by The Wire” actor Wendell Pierce.
The mayor conspicuously no-showed the address, giving the excuse that he need to travel to Washington, DC, and prepare for his testimony before Congress on Wednesday.
What Eric Adams missed was the speaker using her speech to push for the Council’s wishlist — from closing Rikers Island to housing — while backhandedly needling the mayor, Cuomo and President Trump.
But if the speaker hoped her speech would give momentum to her potential mayoral run, she likely would have been disappointed.
The remarks received mostly muted applause, with few rousing standing ovations from the crowd that included city Comptroller Brad Lander, who is running in the Democratic mayoral primary, and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams.
“Mayor requires fisticuffs and she didn’t show any of it,” political operative Hank Sheinkopf noted about the speech when asked how it squared as a potential campaign opener.
“No one wins a mayoral campaign because you are nice. Campaigns aren’t nice. Nobody plays by rules here and if she’s serious she’s going to have to put on boxing gloves.”
Former Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, however, said she thought the speech was rousing and apt for the city’s “dark times.”
“(Adrienne Adams) gave a strength and rallying speech in light of these dark times,” she said. “She leaned on the power of collective action and on the perils we face from those who aim to destroy our democracy.”
Adams pressed for the city to follow through on its commitment to close Rikers, outlined a plan to restore seven-day service to 10 libraries across the city and blasted Trump’s “cruel crusade” against immigrant families.
She also appeared to lambast the trio of egos — the incumbent mayor, self-styled city savior Cuomo and Trump — jockeying for power over New York City.
“We need solutions more than slogans, service rather than saviors, and partnership over patriarchy,” she said.
The mayor stayed silent on the speech while in nation’s capital, while his press team sent out two news releases as the speaker ribbed the loss of trust in city government.
“It’s a punk-ass move,” one Council source saltily said.
The last time a Big Apple mayor skipped a City Council speaker’s address was in 2016, when Bill de Blasio missed Mark-Viverito’s address that year.
City Hall officials insisted Adams couldn’t stick around for the speech and still prepare for testifying alongside other sanctuary city mayors slated to appear before Congress.
“He’s been prepping and he is here for continued prep,” said the mayor’s press secretary Kayla Mamelak Altus. “Just like all the other mayors.”
She added: “Mayor Adams is in Washington D.C. with other major U.S. city leaders to prepare for their testimony in front of the House Oversight Committee tomorrow morning. The mayor cannot be two places at once and, like he always does, has to prioritize what’s most important to the city.”
But his absence drew skepticism and side-eye from many Council and Democratic insiders.
“No one believes that he needs to be in DC today,” one Council source said, while joking that “He must have confused Jazz at Lincoln Center for the Lincoln Memorial.”
Another Council source didn’t blame Eric Adams for skipping it.
“There’s no doubt in my mind that the mayor deliberately snubbed the Speaker — and honestly, who gives a crap about her State of the City address?” the source said.
Democratic strategist Jon Reinish said it’s notable that Eric Adams has now blown two major events in the past week — the speaker’s annual address and the municipal union DC 37’s mayoral forum.
“It’s a glaring absence,” he said of the mayor blowing off the speaker’s event.
“It’s going to lead to another week of tongue wagging about his political future.”
Political pundit Ken Frydman noted Adrienne Adams has called for Adams to resign, in addition to eyeing a mayoral run of her own.
“Can’t say I blame him for being in DC today instead of attending her State of the City address,” he said.
— Additional reporting by Carl Campanile
